The way to rock oneself back into writing is this. First gentle exercise in the air. Second the reading of good literature. It is a mistake to think that literature can be produced from the raw.
Virginia Woolf

New Shoes

How did I learn to read? I really don’t know how to answer that. It’s a mystery! Suddenly, there I was, reading. I started going to school just after I turned seven. I was always a good student. I completed primary school in Garanhuns; then, we moved to Alagoas. I studied a little bit there, then completed school here in São Paulo. It was a small house with mud walls, and my teacher was called Maria Lourenço. We lived out in the country, it’s hard to describe. But I can see it now, my school: I can see me sitting there in the class with my friends. I can also see my first pair of shoes, given to me when I was 7. It was black… it’s a pity that I couldn’t study all my life, especially when we lived in the Northeast. There weren’t enough schools or resources.Inácio Pereira Rangel, 1934, Joiner, Garanhuns, PE.

This was culled from an entry in the (Brazilian) Museum of the Person, a wonderful site which is packed with gems.

7 Responses to “New Shoes”

My wife, who is twelve years older than me, can tell stories like this all day. She can recall in the minutest details events from her childhood. I have to say I can’t remember a damn thing about learning to read. I clearly did somewhere along the line but I have no rosey memories linked to the event.

Interesting site. Anyway, I’ll have to log off now. We’re having Xmas early this year – the joys of having to share my daughter with her mother and her partner’s parents.

jb says: I do believe, though, Jim, that the process of writing activates the memory, so it may all be there but as yet untapped. Anyway, have a good one.

John,
The first shoes that I could remember were pastel yellow Converse canvas high tops, as a little kid you can remember everything and that is why it is so important to be a positive influence aroound children.Thank you for sharing!
~ Patricia ~